Monday, February 21, 2011

Spur Trail: Calvert Cliffs State Park (Lusby, MD)

Spur Trail?
Every once in a while, I'll review a Spur Trail: a trip that can provide for an interesting couple of hours but not the grandeur of a national park or enough for a full day's visit.  Basically, if you are in the area, stop by, but I wouldn't necessarily tell someone to go out of their way to see it.

The bright orange cliffs abutting the Chesapeake Bay are the main draw of Calvert Cliffs State Park.  Although visitors cannot climb on the cliffs any more, you can enjoy the views of the bay while looking at the large number of shells and fossilized shark teeth on the beach.  The trail leading to the cliffs has some surprises of its own, as well.

The cliffs at high tide

Red Trail out / Blue-Yellow Trail back (1.8 miles out; 4 miles round trip): I decided to cut to the chase on my January 2011 visit to the park, and head straight for the cliffs on the red-blazed Red Trail.  This "trail" is sandy, flat, and very well marked.  Into the wild, it is not. 


The map from the parking lot

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the Red Trail.  Very early on, it begins to follow a small creek with the smallest of marshy areas off to the right as you head away from the parking lot.  To my surprise, the creek and marsh became larger and larger as I went along, apparently due to several active beaver dams visible from the trail.  Fortunately, most of the trail is high and dry.

Beaver!

One of the beaver dams, perhaps?
As a result, the Red Trail is not simply mired in forest.  As the marsh becomes larger, you can see more and more of the surrounding area.  Eventually, the field of wetlands becomes so large that the trail transitions to an elevated boardwalk, with a broken-down viewing platform jutting out into the marsh.  Hopefully this is repaired soon.  Note: If mosquitoes bother you, you might be less enthralled with the water-logged area during the warmer months of the year. 

Cold as it was, I was not brave (or stupid?) enough to risk walking out to the end. 
Shortly after the overlook, the trail comes to the beach.  Unfortunately, I arrived at high tide, so I could not wander very far along the coast, but I could see enough to understand why the cliffs have been protected.  They are bright orange, apparently 30 miles long, and supply the beach with plenty of shells and fossils as they erode. 



Looking away from the cliffs
You can sit on some driftwood or the beach while you have a snack before heading back.  My plan had been to try the Orange Trail on the return, which is the longest route in the park.  Very quickly, however, I discovered that the Orange Trail (and everything else north of the service road - see map, above) was in hunting territory, and it was hunting season.

No thank you.
I switched over to the blue-blazed Blue Trail, which runs into the yellow-blazed Yellow Trail south of the Red Trail to get back to the car.  These trails were a little more hilly and less well marked than the Red Trail, but offered nothing noteworthy that day.  The last 1/2 mile or so of the Yellow Trail was actually a utility service road.  I'm glad I took a different route back to see more of the park, but this was a bit of a let down after the beaver activity, marsh, cliffs, and Chesapeake Bay of the Red Trail. 

 




In Short:
  • 1.8 miles from the parking lot to the beach along the red-blazed Red Trail; several options for the return.
  • Beaver dams and wetland views heading out to the beach.
  • Loads of shells along the cliffs.
  • Try to time your visit for low tide for maximum exploration of the cliff area.









Logistics:  Calvert Cliffs State Park is approximately 90 minutes from DC, in Lusby, MD, in southern Maryland.  If you are heading south on Route 2/4 (the main road in the area), turn left onto H.G. Trueman Road.  (If you hit Cove Point Road, you've gone too far.)  The park entrance is straight ahead.  A bulletin board in the parking lot nearest the pond has a map of the park, as well as other information.  If you need to pick up supplies, I passed several big box stores in Frederick, MD (13 miles north of the park on Route 2/4).  If you're looking to keep up the water views for a post-visit meal, I recommend heading south on Route 2/4 for 6 miles to Solomons Island
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